


Hollow

by ryaninjun



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amnesia, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 14:50:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11420262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryaninjun/pseuds/ryaninjun
Summary: Keith and Lance were childhood friends- inseparable until the end of time, their arms forever interlocked. They spent days by each other's side and shared more smiles than any other two humans on Earth. However, all of that changed when someone stepped in and put both of them through more pain than could have ever been imagined before the first day of seventh grade.(If you've ever read 'I'll Give You The Sun' by Judy Nelson, this fanfiction is of a similar format. Perspectives switch each chapter. The present is in Lance's perspective, and the past is in Keith's perspective. Hope you enjoy!)





	1. One

The sunlight from the fresh, fall morning poured in through the window. Leaves carelessly flew off of the trees, landing on the ground to illuminate it with the colors of autumn. The glare of the sun reflected off of the dirty, melting snow, almost blinding the boy watching the scene with lidded, violet eyes.

Keith Kogane was bored already. It was only the first day of first grade, but his brain was already begging him for a nap. His skin folded as he leaned against his hand, his elbow resting on the cold desk.

"Good morning, students!" The teacher was a tall lady with ruby red heels and a yellow sundress, along with a matching red sunhat. She was coordinated and friendly, but her dress made her look bigger than she actually was. "Today, before we start our activities, I want everyone to go around and say their names and their favorite color." she announced.

"Uhm, Miss? What if we have more than one favorite color?" One girl with piggy tails and pudgy fingers raised her hand to catch the teacher's attention.

The teacher beamed. "Then, you may name them all."

Favorite color? Bo-ring. Keith was more interested in the woods outside. He was a man of adventure; certainly not someone who'd spend their time cooped up at home reading books all day.

The students went around the room. One boy hopped up with enthusiasm to share his favorite color when it came to be his turn. He had a dumb smile on his face and a fluffy mop of brown hair atop his head, along with deep blue eyes.

“My name’s Lance and my favorite color is blue because blue is the bestest color ever!” He beamed. His eyes caught the light from the autumn sun and glinted with satisfaction. “I have a stuffed lion named Blue, and she kicks alien butt!”

“Very nice, Mr. McClain.” With an amused smile on her face, the teacher continued calling on students to share.

“Mr. Kogane?”

Though Keith put on a tough guy act, he felt his nerves stand up when the teacher called his name. Bright eyes of over-excited children turned to him and crawled on his back as he spoke.

“My name’s Keith, and my favorite color is red.” Keith murmured. The classroom stood still as everyone in the room waited for Keith to elaborate like all of the other students had, but when he didn’t, the teacher jumped in.

“Nice to meet you, Keith.” She moved on.

 

Recess came along in no time, but the students were restricted from going into the woods, where all of the autumn leaves had stamped the ground. Bitter and bored, Keith sat alone on a bench, his arms crossed. A voice from earlier caught his attention.

“Why do you like red?”

The boy with the blue eyes from earlier plopped down next to Keith. Caught by surprise, the young Kogane whipped his head around, staring at the other. Lance, right…? Yeah. The kid with the blue lion.

Lance was looking up at the sky before he met Keith’s eyes. Keith realized he hadn’t responded and looked away, swinging his legs. Maybe he’d go away if he didn’t answer.

“Hey.” Lance tried again. “Are you mute or something? My mama says that people who are mute don’t talk because they’re scared. Are you scared?”

“No…” Keith grumbled.

“Oh! So you do talk.” Lance smiled a dorky, stupid smile and offered his hand to Keith. “I’m Lance! You should shake my hand so we can be friends.”

“Why do you wanna be my friend?” Keith rose an eyebrow.

“Because, silly, everybody needs friends, and you don’t look like you have any. Don’t worry, though; I have a lot of friends! If you be my friend, you could meet my other friends, and then we’ll all be friends!”

“I don’t want friends.”

“Aww, yes you do! If my mama ever met you, she’d call you a ‘wet blanket’. That’s what she calls boring people.”

“I’m not boring!”

“Yes you are!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Then shake my hand.” There’s that stupid smile.

Keith sighed. Because he felt challenged, he grabbed Lance’s hand and shook it. He could never refuse a challenge.

Little did he know that this handshake would turn into something beautiful.

“So, Keith, now that we’re friends, why do you like red?”

 

“Enjoy your first day of seventh grade, Keitharoo.” Shiro, now a freshman in high school, noogied his younger brother mercilessly as Keith whined.

“Don’t call me that, you jackass.” He huffed and pushed Shiro’s arm off of him.

“Why not? It’s cute.”

“You answered your own question.” Keith’s cheeks puffed, and Shiro stuck his tongue out at him playfully.

“Boys,” Keith’s mother noogied them both. “No more fighting! I thought we were past this phase.” She pouted.

“Sorry, mom, not yet.” Keith squinted at Shiro, who rolled his eyes.

“I was kidding.” Picking up his backpack, the older boy marched up to his mother to kiss her on the cheek. “Bye, mom. See you later.” He gave Keith a kiss as well, making the younger brother wipe it off with disgust.

“Hope you crash.” Keith narrowed his eyes.

“Hope you trip down a flight of stairs.” Shiro waved, smiling at his family as he left to catch the bus. Keith’s mother ushered Keith out the door as well and closed the door behind them.

“Why can’t you be nice to your brother?” She unlocked her car as Keith headed after her.

“Because he’s not nice to me!”

“He is, in his own way.” Keith’s mother caught him by the arm to give him a peck on the cheek. “Have a good day at school, Keith. Tell Mrs. McClain I said hello.”

“Bye, mom. Love you.” Keith waved lazily and walked down the road.

Since Shiro was now leaving the house early to catch the highschool bus and his mother had to leave for work early, Keith was required to spend time at the McClain household in the morning and get on the bus with Lance. Of course, Keith didn’t mind at all. He and Lance had been best friends since first grade, sharing secrets and gossiping and adventuring together ever since.

“Who is it???””

“I can see you in the window, Lance.” Keith smirked.

“No fun!” Lance hurried to the front door and pulled it open. He hadn’t changed much since first grade; his hair was still unruly and fluffy, his smile was still stupid, and his eyes were still an unbelievable shade of blue. “Mama!! Keith is here! Should I let him in??”

“Hurry inside and eat something, _mijos_.” Mrs. McClain peeked at the front door from the kitchen and beamed at Keith. “Hola, Keith!”

“Hola, Mrs. McClain.” Keith invited himself inside and dropped his backpack by the front door.

“Your Spanish is still god-awful, I see.” Lance grinned as if he’d won a gold medal for finishing first in a race, and his blue braces stood out against his white teeth as he did so.

“It’s better than yours.” Keith huffed, though he knew that wasn’t true. Lance was beautifully fluent in Spanish.

“Yeah, whatever, Red.”

“Shut up, Blue.”

You’d think that having the same best friend for six years would get boring, but every day, things only got more interesting. Lance always had something to talk about- some girl he liked but didn’t have a chance with, some new kid in music class with a trench coat, some weird look he got from some teacher… It was never boring with Lance around.

Not to mention that things were getting more and more unbearably interesting because of Keith’s ever-growing crush on Lance. Before sixth grade, Keith had never even considered having interest in guys romantically, but he discovered his interest in them rather rapidly once arriving at middle school. And now, he was losing interest in girls and having a strong interest in guys instead- specifically Lance McClain.

It was painful, yes, but Keith never planned to go anywhere with his feelings. Instead, he’d planned on letting himself internally rot until this dumb crush went away.

“C’mon, Kogane. I bet I can beat you to the bus stop.” Lance grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder as he sprinted out the door.

“Never in a million years.” Keith grabbed his stuff and ran after him. “Bye, Mrs. McClain!”

“ _Adios_!” Mrs. McClain stood in the doorway, watching the two boys disappear down the street. “ _Ay dios mio_ … Those two…” She chuckled and looked longingly at the sign in front of their house; a sign that Keith hadn’t noticed.

“For Sale”.

 

“Spain?” Keith’s eyes widened. “You’re going to Spain? But- why?!”

“My family is in trouble, Keith…” Lance looked down. The usual, happy glint in his eyes had disappeared, and his dumb smile was replaced with an even dumber frown. “They don’t have enough money or jobs to support themselves. Our house isn’t big enough for all of them, so my mom said she’d rather just move out there.”

“What?! Lance, that makes no sense!” Keith barked, obviously upset. “You can’t leave. You’re living with me.”

Lance laughed. “I can’t, Keith. Mama wants me to go with her. Says it’ll be a good ‘cultural experience’.”

Keith’s heart was breaking. Lance was leaving for Spain, where the time zone and language were completely different. He wanted to cry and scream and throw a fit to get Lance to stay. Anything.

“Please don’t go,”

Keith’s whimpers caught Lance’s attention. The blue eyed boy looked up and put his hands on Keith’s cheeks when he saw his eyes glossing over with tears.

“Buck up, crybaby…” Lance joked, and Keith could tell that he wanted to cry, too. “I might come back, in a few years. Just… Don’t forget about me, okay, Red?”

“Lance…” Keith’s breath hitched, and Lance removed his hands from Keith’s cheeks. It’s now or never. “Lance, I have to tell you something.”

McClain glanced back at his friend. He’d already begun to walk away to class, but he stopped when he heard Keith speak.

“I…” Keith looked down, letting his long hair fall over his eyes. “Lance, I love you.”

Lance paused and blinked before giving an innocent grin. “I love you too, buddy. Don’t be so sad.”

Keith felt his heart tearing even farther. Lance obviously hadn’t gotten what he meant… Whatever. “Okay… See you.” He nodded instead of insisting, and he turned and started walking away. Though he’d tried to keep watching the ground before him, he couldn’t help but look back at Lance. He was rubbing his beautiful eyes and putting a smile on his face. Hiding his sadness, Keith thought.

Keith considered turning around and telling Lance flat out everything that was beautiful about him- every reason why Lance had to stay in America. But before he got the chance, he felt himself bump into somebody tall, with an oddly familiar stench.

“Ah, Kogane.”

Keith turned his head to stare at a white-haired eighth grader with purple nails and black skinny jeans.

“Lotor…” Keith sniffled and tried to regain his usual bad-boy attitude.

“What’s wrong, cry baby? Did your boyfriend break up with you?” He popped out his bottom lip.

“Shut up and leave me alone.” Keith tried to push past Lotor and his minion friends to get to his classroom.

“Don’t leave so soon.” Lotor grabbed his arm, and his minions helped drag Keith down the hall. “We have a special surprise for you today.”

“Let go of me! Fuck you!” Keith squirmed, but it was no use. Before he knew where they were, he was staring into Lotor’s hazel-gold eyes.

“I hate people like you.” Lotor hissed. “And I’ve waited to do this for so long. Finally- FINALLY- I managed to overpower you.” He was holding onto Keith’s collar, a menacing grin on his lips. “Tell the spiders I said hello, won’t you?”

And he let go. Keith tumbled down a set of cold, stone stairs. He couldn’t seem to catch himself, and the hits to the head had certainly not helped him focus. When he ended up at the bottom, he heard Lotor cracking up as he closed the basement door.

The world faded out. Everything was dark and cold and his head was throbbing. Soon, he was unconscious. Nobody knew or cared where he was.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance's perspective - Spain.

"Mama? How come Keith hasn't called me or anything...?"

Lance's fluffy hair was hanging onto his scalp for dear life as his cheeks puffed red with blood. Currently, the other boy was sitting upside down on his bed, bored out of his mind and texting Keith Kogane more times than he could count. His mother was busy moving boxes outside the doorway, and Lance had just noticed her passing by.

It had been a week since they moved in. They lived in Lance's Abuela's large house, which they were pitching in to help pay for. Soon, Lance would have to get a job, no matter if he liked it or not.

Lance's mother paused in his doorway with a cardboard box in her hands labeled "Dan's Laundry. "I don't know, _mijo_. Maybe he hasn't had access to his phone."

"But he'd at least text me by now," Lance whined, staring at his cellphone, which was void of new notifications. "Do you think he's mad at me, Mama?"

"Maybe. But, don't worry. He'll get in contact with you soon, I'm sure."

Lance hummed and sat up, now facing the window. Outside, it was dark and cloudy, and water was falling from the rumbling storm clouds overhead.

After a moment of silence, Lance heard his mother place the box down and sit on the edge of his bed.

"I miss him." Lance turned his eyes away from the window to stare at the ground instead. "I miss him a lot... And I hate making him mad."

Lance's mom put a hand on his shoulder. She looked sad; like she, too, was worried for Keith. Her eyes shone with secrets, and her hair cascaded down her shoulder in wavy curls.

"Why would he be mad at you, Lance?" She asked in a whisper. "Keith loves you."

The two were quiet as they listened to rain fall onto the cobblestone streets and quiet beds of hibernating flowers.

 

After dinner, the McClain children were sent to bed. Lance had two older siblings and two younger siblings, making him the dreaded middle child. The oldest, Brandon, was off at college; Lance hadn't seen him since he was five, and he feared he may never see him again now that the family had picked up and moved to Spain.

Lance tucked his younger twin siblings into bed; one boy, Dan, and one girl, Lily.

"Why did we move, Lancey?" Lily whimpered. "It's scary here, and it rains a lot. I hate storms."

Lance placed a tender kiss on her forehead and did the same for Dan. "Don't worry, we're not staying here forever. Our home is back in America." He encouraged. He took a seat on a tall stool with a redwood seat and long, dark legs. "Now, go to bed. I'll stay here until you do."

"Will you sing for us?" Lily's eyes shimmered with hope that what Lance was saying was true. The young twins looked up to their older brother; they admired him. According to them, every word from Lance's mouth was the truth, which was why he needed to be careful with what he said.

"Yes." Lance answered, always happy to have an audience. He wasn't the most amazing singer, but he did enjoy preforming, and the twins seemed to sleep better after a lullaby of some sort.

Slowly and softly, Lance began singing, tapping his foot to the beat, which he'd slowed so that the song was more of a lullaby. 

 

_"...Feels so good_

 

_Feels so good, it's frightening_

 

_Wish I could_

 

_Stop this world from fighting..."_

 

Lance hummed until he watched his younger siblings fall asleep. He turned off the lights and kissed their heads one more time before escaping the room.

Remembering that he'd left his laundry basket downstairs, he crept down the old, wooden staircase, which had been reinforced with soft, magenta carpet. As he snuck past the kitchen, he head his mother's voice, hushed. It sounded as if she was speaking to a baby, or an angel; like if she were any louder, it'd be disrespectful, frightening...

"Is he alright?"

Lance paused and pressed himself against the wall before the doorway to listen in.

"That's just awful... Lance has been distraught, yes... No, I still haven't told him. I just can't yet; it'd break my heart."

"Lance."

The fluffy-haired boy jumped as a small, older woman approached him. She was short and stocky like Lance's mother, with long hair that faded from white to black at the roots. She always wore flowers around her neck, along with sundresses. She could look like a million bucks whenever she liked, even on a rainy, stormy evening.

"Abuela," As beautiful as she was on the outside, Abuela could be strict, and cold as stone. "I was just-"

"Going to bed? Yes, you were." Her thick accent showed off her muffled, weak English skills.

"Uhm- yeah..." Lance bit his lip. He looked back at the kitchen before rushing off up the stairs. He could hear Abuela sighing heavily as he slipped into his bedroom, which he shared with his older sister, Christine.

"Took you long enough." Christine was already laying down, facing the wall. As a 16-year-old girl, she was not excited about sharing a bedroom with her seventh grade brother, and her tone was bitter and tired.

"I heard mama talking." Lance whispered back. He tossed off his shirt, socks and jeans as he plopped down on his bed. He stared out the window, watching rain pelt against the glass. "She sounded like she's keeping something from me. Do you know what it is?"

"Oh, I wish." She huffed with fake enthusiasm.

"I think it's about Keith." Lance had his elbows propped up against the windowsill. He was obvious to Christine's fervent desire to sleep in silence. "Whatever she's hiding, I'm gonna find out what it is. If my best friend is in trouble, I should know about it."

Christine pulled the covers over her head. "Whatever."

Lance was quiet after that. He couldn't sleep, too busy thinking about Keith. What was he doing now? Was he alright? Was he angry at Lance?

Whatever was going on, Lance hoped that his questions would be answered quickly.

 

 

"Can you believe she did that to me, Hunk?" Lance whined. Once again, he was hanging upside down on his bed. "After I gave it to her, she completely ignored my existence! Even right after, she didn't want morning cuddles or any of that good stuff. She just got up and walked out. And now, when I ask her to Spring Fling, she says no?! I know she doesn't have a date! Why doesn't she like me, Hunk? Is it even me that's the problem?"

"No, Lance, you're not the problem." Lance's best friend, Hunk, was on the other line, staring at his geometry books with lidded eyes. This was typical for him; every weekend, Lance would call Hunk and Hunk would study and give advice as Lance rambled on about some girl. "She just doesn't know a good boyfriend when she sees one."

"You're so good to me, Hunk. If I was gay, I'd totally marry you." Lance rolled over to lay on his stomach. His phone was pressed against his ear, and he was alone in his room, his long, tan legs stretched to the end of his bed.

Sophomore year of high school, and Lance's questions had gone unanswered; though, that was the least of Lance's problems. Being the most popular, talented and athletic boy in high school was not a walk in the park.

"Wow, I'm flattered." Hunk said flatly, following it up with a playful giggle.

"I'm sure you are." Lance laughed along. Though he was egotistical, he was (mostly) joking, and he'd grown up to have a heart of gold. "You're making brownies this weekend, right?"

"Sure, Lance. I know you like them."

"Hunk, darling, I love everything you make. Like is not a strong enough word."

Hunk's laughter echoed from over the phone line, and Lance beamed when it reached his ear.

A knock echoed through the hallway outside Lance's room, which he'd had to himself ever since Christine left to go to college in France.

" _Mijo_?" Lance's mother pushed the door open. Though she was still beautiful, she was definitely more worn down than she had been three years ago. "Are you busy?"

"Hm..? Oh, _hola,_ mama. _Que paso_?" Lance sat up. He was about to stand, but his mother motioned for him to take a seat as she shuffled to the bedside. "Uh, Hunk, I have to call you back." Lance hung up.

Lance's mother sat down on the bed. Wrinkles lined her tan skin, along with dark circles that were prominent under her black eyes. She reached to take Lance's hand.

"As you know, things are settled here." Lance's mother began. 'Your aunts and cousins that have been living here are making good money, and your Abuela is doing just fine... Which means it's time for us to go home."

Lance stared at his mother as if she'd just told him she was going to chop off Lily's head. "What?! Home?"

"America." Lance's mother repeated. "Home to America."

"America? But..." Lance chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Mama, I'm happy here; I've made friends, and the chicks love me. Are you telling me I'll have to start over?"

She blinked. "I thought you'd be happy, _mijo_. Home is where Keith is. Besides, American women are smarter than the women here."

"Wait- Keith?" Lance hadn't heard his name in so long. The two hadn't been in contact at all- not so much as an indication that Keith had read the millions of text messages he'd sent. His mother had always dodged the topic; so why was she mentioning it now? "As in Keith Kogane? The boy who left me for dead once we left for Spain?" Lance's forehead creased.

" _Mijo_ , it's not that simple..." She sighed. Though she thought she'd been prepared for this, she felt as though it still wasn't the right time to tell. Still, she pushed through. Lance needed to know. "It's just... Keith has been... Out of commission, for a long time."

"Three years?" Lance's eyes widened. "Mama, what's going on?"

"Lance's mother munched on her lip and avoided Lance's blue eyes. "Years ago, Keith got multiple severe blows to the head. He ended up at the bottom of the stone basement stairs of your old middle school, completely unconscious. Not even I know what happened that lead to him ending up there, but he was in bad shape when somebody found him." She paused, her hand still squeezing Lance's. 

She continued, "He almost died, Lance. But by some miracle, he woke up two weeks after the incident had occurred, in the hospital. Though, not all was redeemed... You see, Keith had serious amnesia, and he forgot a lot of social aspects from his childhood. He didn't even recognize his brother until another week and a half after waking up."

"Keith's mother tried her best not to overwhelm him. She had to keep a lot of things from him, and she even homeschooled him through seventh and eighth grade, because he got too overwhelmed and frustrated with the normal curriculum, and would end up angry at himself.

"The reason why I'm saying all of this is because... Keith doesn't know you anymore, Lance. His mother didn't want him to be reminded of you, because you were such a huge part of his childhood, and she knew he'd be dangerously overwhelmed. So, Keith forgot about you."

Lance just stared at her. His golden heart had been torn. "So... All of our adventures? All of our times together..." He murmured, staring down at his mother's hand. "He doesn't even know me anymore."

"I'm sorry, _mijo_..." Lance's mom frowned.

"How come you didn't tell me earlier?

"I couldn't bring myself to... The only reason I'm telling you now is that Keith is going to the same high school you are next year. It's best if you don't approach him--"

"No." Lance's eyes quickly looked up to meet his mother's. "Damnit, Mama, I'm gonna approach him. Keith, he... he was the most important thing in my life. I can't just let him forget about me."

"But, Lance, what if he breaks down? He could get hurt."

"Tough cookies. I'm not giving up, Mama. I can't give up." He squeezed her hand. "I know that if I approached Keith with the situation and asked him what to do, he'd say, 'don't be an idiot and give it a shot, Blue,' so that's what I'm gonna do. He'd do the same thing for me."

Ms. McClain's expression softened. She nodded, a smile spreading across her face as her eyes glossed over with tears. "I know I can't stop you, so... Good luck, _mijo_. I know you can do it."

"Thanks, Mama." Lance hugged her close. He felt her sigh into his shoulder as she hugged him back. "Now, let's go home and get Keith back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wOo ok!! if you made it this far, I hope you're enjoying!! something tells me that things are about to get interesting ;)  
> please excuse if I made errors with the Spanish I was using!! its not my first language, and I don't know how to get accents on my computer yet
> 
> ( song lyrics referenced: Southern Nights by Glen Campbell )


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sweet memories of second grade. Turns out Lance is a sucker for Disney.

“And so, the little duckling went back home to his family.”

The teacher, Ms. Molly, closed the book after showing the children the last picture, where the duck was smiling beside his mother. The blank, yellow back cover was all Keith could see once the book had been closed.

“Okay, everyone. Get your lunches so we can bring them outside.” With the wave of her hand, the chattering children followed Ms. Molly. Some were yawning, others were grinning, excited to once again be freed of the classroom walls to play tag or duck-duck-goose.

“Red!” Lance’s voice called from behind him, and Keith turned, his expression stoic.

“Hi, Lance.” Kogane replied as he shoved some of his black hair behind his ear.

“I told you, you should call me Blue!”

“But your name is Lance?”

“Stilllllll.”

The two boys picked up their lunchboxes from their respective cubbies. Keith’s lunchbox was purple with smiling stars and slimy green aliens on it, and Lance’s lunchbox had a picture of the beach on it- warm, white sand bordering a vast blue sea, with palm trees bearing coconuts poking their leaves out from the sides of the image. There were stickers of Disney characters all over Lance’s lunchbox- most of them torn from Lance’s sad attempt to remove them- but Keith’s lunchbox was shiny, void of even a fingerprint.

“Who’s that?” Keith questioned, pointing a pudgy finger at one of the characters on Lance’s lunchbox.

“You don’t know who that is?” Lance stared at him, blue eyes too big for his head. “That’s Sleeping Beauty! But her real name is Aurora. Isn’t she pretty?”

Keith squinted at the sticker. He could see the ripped edges where Lance had attempted to unstick her, presumably out of boredom. “She’s pretty,” he deadpanned.

Once they got outside, their lunchboxes were discarded to the side of the brick building they’d just exited. The other kids did the same before running off. Some ran to the playground, sneakers pushing against the mulch as they hoisted themselves into the slides. Like every other day, Keith and Lance decided to begin their recess with a walk as they decided what adventure to embark on.

“What’s your favorite princess, Red?” Lance beamed.

Keith’s eyebrow rose. “Favorite princess?” Growing up with only an older brother, he hadn’t really been introduced to “girly things”, like princesses and fairies. Lance, on the other hand, was stuck watching that stuff all of the time, thanks to his older sister always snagging the tv remote. Over time, though, Lance had learned to love shows like Dora the Explorer and My Little Pony.

“Yeah, you know,” Lance looked to the sky as he tried to recall the names of all of the princesses he knew. “Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Belle… All of those pretty girls?”

Keith looked lost.

Lance gave a disappointed sigh before his eyes widened with a sudden lightbulb going off behind his blue eyes. “We’re gonna watch a TON at our next sleepover. You’ll be thanking me for weeks!” He said, pride in his smile.

“Oh. Okay.” The forever-shy Keith turned away to look at the other kids.

“Hey, we should play space rangers today!” Lance abruptly changed the subject, grabbing Keith’s hand. “You’re red, and I’m blue. We have to beat the aliens- they’ve invaded our ship!” The tan-skinned boy pulled Keith to the playground, where other kids were launching themselves down slides and giggling as they slid down fire poles.

Keith’s smile showed itself as they ran up the playscape. He loved playing space rangers with Lance, even if Lance’s other friends tried to interfere sometimes. He scurried up the play place in Lance’s footsteps.

Lance had tried to introduce Keith to the other kids, but Keith was not one to make friends. The other friends had blatantly stated that Keith was ‘weird’, not fit to be part of their clan. So, his only friend was Lance, but he was okay with that. He didn’t need anybody but Lance and Shiro.

“Keef!” Another nickname. Lance had a talent for making those. “There’s a guy to your right! Swing your sword!”

Lance tossed Keith a stick. He was standing on top of a tunnel, but Keith was still on the stairs, trailing behind. With a thwack, Keith swiped at the empty space to his right, and he ended up hitting the plastic-looking railings keeping the children from falling off of the stairs.

“I got him! Pew pew!” Lance pointed another stick towards imaginary figures, as if shooting them with a gun. “Red, they’re getting away! Let’s get them!” Lance hopped off of the tunnel to sprint to the slide, but Keith had already beat him there.

They sprinted across the mulch until their feet reached the blacktop. The fresh, spring sun beat down on them as they just kept running, now seemingly more interested in beating each other to wherever they were racing to than chasing the imaginary aliens they’d been fighting.

Keith was running so fast and smiling so wide that he didn’t even notice the canopy of the forest that eventually draped over them like a blanket. It came swiftly and without warning, and it protected them from the sun with its cool, grey shadows.

Lance was a few leagues ahead of Keith still, pretending to shoot at alien foes. “Protect me, Red!” He called, just before he stumbled, tripping over a log molded with lichen.

“Lance!” Keith called in a fit of panic when he didn’t see Lance ahead of him anymore. He stopped just before the log, seeing Lance a few feet away on his stomach. Keith hurried towards him to help him sit up. He grabbed Lance’s hand, but the other only pulled him down with him, and soon they were both sitting in green grass, giggling.

“Where are we, Red?” Lance looked up. The shadows of the canopy played across his face so that the sun shown in only one of his brilliant, blue eyes. He squinted.

“Enemy territory,” replied Keith. Their hands were still clasped together, and instead of letting go, Keith pulled Lance closer. “We’d better be careful.”

Lance’s smile lit up. “Stealth mission?”

“Stealth mission.”

And they were on their feet again. Their curious, wide eyes wandered around the forest. Instead of being dark and dense, the forest was open, and the sunlight that had gotten trapped beneath the canopy made the air a magic golden color. The dirt was wet with spring rain, rocks lodged here and there. Lance leaped over a small river, propelling himself over with ease. Keith followed him across wobbly without asking any questions.

The boys were too adventurous for their own good.

“What do you think is in these woods?” Keith finally asked. They had strayed so far from the school that he couldn’t see it beyond the skinny trees anymore. Lance tip-toed along the river bank, like he was walking on a curb.

“Monsters?” Lance smirked.

“Monsters aren’t real.”

“Yes, they are! There’s one in my closet.”

“No way.”

“Yes way! He’s from space.”

“You have an alien living in your closet??” Keith’s eyes widened for a moment, like he actually believed Lance.

“His name’s Randy. He’s friendly, don’t worry! You should meet him one day.”

“Randy-“ Keith squawked as he was suddenly knocked off of his feet. He had stumbled into something rusty… Lance hurried to his side as Keith pushed himself off the ground to sit up. “I’m okay!” Keith forced a grin when he met Lance’s concerned gaze. “I think I just tripped over something.”

Both boys looked back, eyebrows raising at the sight of a large, rusted nail stamped into the ground, like one that would be used to put up a tent for a camping trip. Lance was the first to poke at it, and he saw that a rope was attached to it, going off in one direction.

“Hey, it leads somewhere!” Lance pulled Keith to his feet and gripped his hand, starting to quickly follow the line of rope.

“Where?” Keith looked down at the rope as Lance pulled him along.

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be running! Keep up!”

They stumbled through the woods together, following the rope to more and more nails sticking out of the ground.

“That’s weird… The rope ends here.” Lance kicked the last nail, which had made its home under a large oak tree. Keith was looking elsewhere, his mouth agape.

“Lance, look!” He tugged on Lance’s hand until the other boy followed his eyes up to the structure that loomed over them.

“Whoa...” His smile grew. “A space station!”

 

“Come on, Mom! Lance is already there!” Keith whined, hugging the back of the passenger seat. His spine was tingling with excitement.

“How do you know that?” Keith’s mom laughed.

“Our minds our linked!” The young boy poked his temple to prove his point. Shiro was in the seat next to him, watching out the window. He’d just gotten done at the doctors again, and he was looking drained, his arm resting lazily in its sling.

“Sit back, Kenneth, and buckle your seatbelt.” Keith’s mother barked, but by that time, they’d already pulled into the school parking lot, so it was no use. Like Keith had predicted, Lance’s mom was already there, and Lance waved at their car as it approached, a wide grin on his face.

Keith leaped out of the car once his mother unlocked the door. He ran to Lance, who met him halfway. They didn’t waste any time.

“Let’s go, Red!” Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and tugged him towards the woods. Soon, they were gone, their mothers and Shiro left to chat and wonder.

Since they’d been so rudely pulled away from the woods earlier in the week, Keith and Lance had agreed to meet back in the woods on a weekend, to spend as much time as they wanted with their “space station”.

They followed the rope, trying not to trip on rusted nails as they ran. In the tree at the end of the line was a treehouse, standing long and tall, woven into the branches. Its wood was rotting at the edges, worn by rain and snow and moss. Now, in the spring sun, it shone with potential, at least in the eyes of two kids who’d never encountered something so sacred.

They climbed up, hearing their mothers following them and weaving through the trees and green plants.

“Red!” Always the acrobat, Lance launched swung up onto a high branch, where he could stand on the flat roof of the tree house if he wanted to. “Intruders incoming! Prepare for battle!” He pointed out towards the moms and Shiro, who were approaching at a snail’s pace.

Shiro, only a couple of years older than Keith, gave the treehouse one look and immediately fell in love. His fatigue melted away and he stumbled to climb up to the house. Seeing him struggling, Keith helped him up, and they exchanged smiles.

“Keeeeeith! Shiro’s an alien! Don’t invite him in!” Lance whined.

“Be nice, Lance.” Lance’s mother chirped with laughter, which naturally made everyone else giggle. Mrs. McClain’s joy was infectious like that.

“Can we keep it, mom?” Keith looked out an open window down at his mom. Shiro squeezed into the space next to him.

“I don’t see why not.” Keith’s mom shrugged. “But you have to take care of it.”

Lance jumped down to the main floor of the treehouse to run and wrap his arms around Keith’s neck. “Don’t worry, Ms. Kogane! She’s in good hands! And by good hands, I mean my hands. Not stinky Keith’s hands.” He stuck his tongue out.

“Be quiet, Blue.” Keith met his eyes, and Lance beamed with overwhelming joy.

The spring sun smiled through the cracks of the canopy. 

Beautiful second grade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm really glad that most of you are enjoying the story so far!! I've already got some nice feedback and i'm very grateful!!  
> if you want to contact me at all, feel free to do so! my tumblr is articulatedmonsoon

**Author's Note:**

> hey, guys!!! this isn't my first fanfiction, but it's the first one ive ever posted to ao3, and its my first big klance fanfiction that I've decided to take on. I hope you enjoy it! let me know what you think hhhh


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